The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) reported better-than-expected financial results for the third quarter driven by higher prices.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was up 5% at $0.77, topping expectations of $0.74.
Net revenues were down 1% year-over-year to $11.9 billion, but ahead of the $11.6 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.
Organic sales grew 9%, surpassing Bank of America’s estimate of 5.5%. This included a 10% growth in price/mix and a 2% drop in concentrate sales.
Global unit case volume declined 1%, with declines in China, Mexico and Türkiye more than offsetting growth in Brazil, the Philippines and Japan.
Coca-Cola also updated its full-year 2024 outlook, now calling for organic sales growth of 10% compared to its earlier forecast of 9% to 10%, in line with Street estimates.
It continues to expect EPS growth of 5% to 6%, which includes 9 points of foreign exchange drag, and 1 to 2 points of drag from mergers and acquisitions, largely related to bottler refranchising across Asia.
The guidance implies comparable EPS of $2.82 to $2.85, compared to the consensus of $2.85.
“Better 2024 financial year guidance makes sense given the strong Q3 organic sales momentum by implies Q4 organic sales of 5% versus the Street at 7% to 8% and EPS of $0.49 to $0.52 versus the Street at $0.55,” Bank of Amercia's analysts noted.
BofA repeated its ‘Buy’ rating for Coca-Cola and $77 price objective (PO).
“We maintain our Buy rating and $77 PO that is based on 25x our 2025 financial year EPS estimate, a premium to non-alcoholic beverage peers of around +20%,” they wrote.
“In our view, this magnitude of a premium in terms of relative multiple is warranted as Coca-Cola topline management continues to fuel outperformance.”
Investors disappointed by the year-over-year decline in revenue and volumes sent shares of Coca-Cola lower in early trade on Wednesday, down 2.3% to about $68.